


full moon (you are my universe)

by peachtones



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Kinda but not really, M/M, if u think this is gonna be something Heavy and Deep u are Wrong, modern mythology i guess?, moon god!kevin, star god(?)!changmin, sun god!sunwoo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-03-25 19:51:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13841820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachtones/pseuds/peachtones
Summary: “Did you...were you….” the boy started, voice soft but loud enough to be audible in the quiet alley. He glanced between Kevin and the entrance of the alley, where the trio of cotton tails had disappeared. “Were you just talking to those rabbits?”Still frozen in place, Kevin immediately lied, “no.”Hesitantly and with a hint of confusion, the boy said, “okay.”(or: kevin is a moon god; jacob is confused, but also a little in love with the boy who talks to rabbits.)





	1. 하늘 가득 물든 달빛 (the sky is filled with moonlight)

**Author's Note:**

> **me:** hm maybe i should update my ongoing fics  
>  **me, ignoring my wips folder:** hM MAYBE I SHOULD UPDATE MY ONGOING FICS  
>  **me, writing this:** HM MAYBE I SHOULDㅡ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this,,, au might be kind of confusing but oh well lmao
> 
> here are some u notes u might need:  
> 1\. this is set in modern day seoul  
> 2\. kevin, sunwoo, and changmin are moon, sun, and star/celestial heavens gods, respectively (well, they're more like deities than gods but whatever)  
> 3\. this is vaguely inspired by the drama hwayugi bc i love the supernatural aspect but hwayugi is too Angsty,,, this is more romcom-ish  
> 4\. a _hokora_ is a small shinto shrine (google it if you want; kevin's is one of the red ones)! (also _komainu_ are the stone lion-dog statues typically seen outside of shrines) (also also _kami_ are the spirits that the shrines are for)  
>  5\. kevin's rabbit minions come from the rabbit on the moon myth in asian mythology (changmin has moth minions. why? idk,,,, sunwoo doesnt have any minions rip lmao)  
> 6\. kevin's rabbits don't _actually_ talk, but rather communicate with kevin through a kind of telepathy/intuition kind of situation. like they cant read each others minds but regular humans cant hear what the rabbits say (this is the same situation with changmin and his moths)
> 
> (also the title and chapter titles are taken from dreamcatcher's full moon, which i suggest you have a listen to!)

Kevin whistled to himself as he meandered his way through the backstreets and alleyways of Seoul (which were kind of dirty and a little bit sketchy, if he was being honest), hands stuffed deep into his jacket pockets. He kept glancing up at the sun, squinting against the golden light it was casting in between the gaps in the buildings; the sun was going to set soon. If he looked hard enough, he could already see the full moon peeking out from the horizon. He grinned. He had a feeling that Sunwoo was going to visit him tonight.

He paused in his walking and whistling when he spotted a single white rabbit sitting in the middle of the alley, facing his direction. Waiting for him. His grin spread even further, threatening to split his face in half.

“Dal,” he said happily, pulling his hands out of his pockets and dropping into a crouch, “come to greet me early? Just couldn’t wait to see me, huh?”

Dal, the white rabbit, bounded lazily over to where Kevin had crouched down. She lifted her body up, placing her paws onto his knee. He ran his hand over the length of her body once, twice, three times before she dropped back to the ground, hopping a full circle around him before planting herself directly in front of him and making beady eye contact. Of course, she could smell the goodies he had brought with him and was (gently) demanding a taste.

“Oh, I see,” Kevin sighed (in fake betrayal) as he shrugged off his backpack. “You only came to see me so you could get snacks instead of waiting like the rest of the rabbits.” He brought the backpack around to his front, pulling the zipper open and reaching his hand in. “I can’t believe you.” He pulled a single strawberry and a pocket knife out; Dal’s eyes followed the strawberry. He flicked open the knife and sliced the strawberry in half before closing the knife and stuffing it in the side pocket of his backpack. “Actually, you know, I can. You’re impatient.” He popped one half of the strawberry into his mouth and held out the other for the rabbit, watching on with a look to proud mother watching her baby eat as Dal munched happily on it. When she finished it he told her, “run ahead and tell the others I’m coming, would you?”

She licked at his fingers fingers enthusiastically (partly to gather the last drops of strawberry juice, partly to express her thanks and appreciation) before turning and running off. He watched her bound down the alley before making a sharp right turn, disappearing down a connecting alley.

He zipped his backpack up and slipped it back on as he stood up, trailing lazily after Dal. He took the same right turn as she did, but stopped only a few feet inwards at another alley on the left; this particular alley may have just looked another dank (not in the good way) alley, but it was actually the entrance to a shrine (something leftover from Japan’s occupation of Korea, long forgotten due to it’s small size and inaccessibility as Seoul had grown and expanded). It was tucked into the space between buildings, easily missed if you weren’t looking for it ㅡ the small _hokora_ , with red paint chipping off of the wooden structure sat a foot inward from the mouth of the alley. Two small stone rabbits sat on either side of it in place of the _komainu_ ; inside of the shrine was a bell, which hung down from a beam across the top of the shrine, three candles (a gift from Sunwoo), a crescent moon necklace made out of iron (a gift from Changmin), and an offering bowl. Kevin and the rabbits were the _kami_ of this specific shrine, where they completed requests for finding lost items, providing good luck, and the granting of simple wishes.

Tonight, the offering bowl held a neatly wrapped package of rice cakes, a small envelope (which likely contained money), and a tied bushel of hay. Kevin gathered everything from the offering bowl and tapped the bell with his finger before walking around the shrine to the small grassy area that was behind it. It had been a courtyard at some point in the past, which could explain the odd location of the _hokora._ He stuffed the offerings (minus the hay) into his coat pocket and shouldered off his backpack, dropping it onto the ground as rabbits slowly but surely started hopping into existence in the low light.

“ _My babies_ ,” Kevin crooned as he sat on the ground, sitting cross-legged and leaning forward on his ankles. The rabbits hopped excitedly up to meet him, lifting themselves up to be pet and inspecting the backpack like Dal had. “I’m happy to see you all. I’m sure Dal told you all I brought snacks! And someone brought some hay!”

He untied the bundle of hay from the shrine and set it off to his left, letting the rabbits munch on it while he unloaded his backpack, making a pile of fruits (apples, strawberries, bananas, and pears) and greens (mint, clover, celery, and peas) between his legs. He untied his own bundle of hay and set it off to the right, giving them plenty of space to graze while they waited for their favorite snack of the eight to be distributed.

He took his time, starting with the greens since they didn’t need to be cut and/or sliced, chatting with each and every rabbit as they enjoyed their snacks. By the time he had reached the end of the pears, he was caught up on what he missed (which wasn’t really all that much, since he had only been gone for a week) while he had been away. He had only been absent to a bunch of pranks (played on both rabbits and humans alike), lots and lots of napping, and completing one request of a finding a lost item.

With the fruits and greens gone and the rabbits satisfied with full bellies, he pulled the offerings out of his pocket. He unwrapped the rice cakes, taking a bite of one as he opened the envelope. He was right _ㅡ_ it did contain money, but there was also folded piece of paper among the won as well. He quickly counted through the bills first, the total coming up to 40,000 won. It had to be Mrs. Bae, a sweet old lady who lived down the street from the shrine, who left the offering; he could count on one hand how many people actually visited and left offerings at his _hokora_ , and Mrs. Bae was the only one who left money.

He shoved the won back into the envelope and pulled out the paper, unfolding it with one hand and clearing his throat before reading aloud, “ _Dear Hyungseo (and the rabbits)_ ㅡ _thank you for finding and returning my grandson’s lucky guitar pick! I know I put you on a time crunch since he is leaving tomorrow, but you never disappoint! He was so relieved! He helped me make the rice cakes as a thanks. Also, please use the money to buy warm clothing! It’s getting cold out, I don’t want you to get sick. I’ll bring another offering later this week in case that isn’t enough. Best wishes, Bae Jungsoon_.” He lowered the note, popping the rest of the rice cake into his mouth. “Who found Mrs. Bae’s grandson’s guitar pick?”

A grayish-brown rabbit, Min, lifted her head up and hopped over to Kevin; he ran his hand along her body. “Remind me to bring you a treat next time, okay?”

Kevin continued to socialize with the rabbits as the sun set, enjoying the rice cakes and not giving into the pleads to share them (“I don’t care if you’re a magical rabbit and eating rice cakes shouldn’t affect you, you’re still a literal rabbit and rice cakes are not in on the recommended foods list for you. No rice cakes.”). When the sun had fully disappeared behind the horizon and the moon started to climb up into the sky he decided it was time for him to leave, lest he spend all night at the shrine and risk him and the rabbits getting spotted by a stranger.

He brushed off his pants as he stood back up, bowing and bidding the rabbits goodnight as he put his backpack back on. He rounded the _hokora_ again, this time stopping in front of it and pulling a box of matches of out his pocket. He took one from the box, striking it and lighting the candles inside the shrine. Satisfied, he shook the match to rid it of the flame and stuffed it back inside the matchbox, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Finding his way out of the back alleys to the main one was a breeze, despite there being practically no light that reached the area, having long since memorized the maze of streets that surrounded his shrine. The main alley did have a singular streetlight, but it was far enough away from where the back alley let out that it was only a dim and sparse source of light. (In Kevin’s opinion, it served to make the alley seem even sketchier.)

When he stepped out into the main alley he stopped, turning around on his heel in a slightly dramatic manner to see one of the rabbits just at the mouth of the side alley. He thought someone had been following him, and it turned out to be Min; she wasn’t as sneaky as she thought she was.

“I thought I said bye to you already,” Kevin admonished, staring down at Min. Despite his words, he dropped into a crouch, picking Min up and cradling her against his chest. “I know, you just don’t want to say goodbye. Go ahead, admit it, you missed me.” He adjusted her in his hold, moving one hand to pet her, stroking her soft fur. “I was only gone a week though, that’s not even the longest I’ve been gone.”

While he wasn’t paying attention, two new guests had hopped towards him _ㅡ_ Dal and Ji, a black otter-coated rabbit. “Oh, the gang’s all here now,” he said when he noticed them. Ji flopped down at his feet while Dal went to prop herself up against his knee, likely jealous of the attention that Min was getting. “Since you’re all here, help Min decide what she wants me to bring her as her treat.”

That resulted in a debate breaking out, Dal insisting on strawberries and Ji suggesting yellow peppers (both of which were _their_ favorite snacks). They couldn’t grasp the concept that they weren’t going to be eating the treat as well, apparently.

“Don’t pick something too expensive,” Kevin suggested. “Pick something in season and easy to get.”

That prompted Min settle on plums, much to the dismay of Ji and Dal. They continued to bicker, Min now admandant on getting plums, until all three of them froze for a moment. Min was then suddenly wiggling herself out of Kevin’s grip, hopping back to the ground and taking off back down the alley towards the shrine. Ji and Dal quickly followed her, disappearing into the darkness.

“Leave without even saying bye, how rude,” he muttered to himself, pouting and crossing his arms over his chest. “Those rabbits need to learn some manners.”

But then there was a sound, something akin to noise that you make when you almost trip but catch yourself. He froze up like the rabbits had. Heavens, he hoped it wasn’t like, a murderer or something. He still had so much to live for. He was supposed to hang out with Changmin tomorrow. He had to bring Min her plums. Beyoncé hadn’t released any new music lately. He couldn’t die without hearing Beyoncé’s next album.

Against his better judgement, he turned his head in the direction the sound had come from and found a boy standing a few feet away, looking very confused. Ah, now that made sense. Kevin understood why the rabbits had fled; they had been spooked by the person approaching, but could tell that the person was coming their direction way sooner than Kevin was able to. And with such a situation, there was a chance that he may have been caught red-handed talking to rabbits.

“Did you...were you….” the boy started, voice soft but loud enough to be audible in the quiet alley. That confirmed Kevin’s suspicions. He had indeed been caught red-handed. The boy glanced between Kevin and the entrance of the alley, where the trio of cotton tails had disappeared. “Were you just talking to those rabbits?”

Still frozen in place, Kevin immediately lied, “no.”

Hesitantly and with a hint of confusion, the boy said, “okay.”

“Yeah,” Kevin just answered.

They continued to make awkward eye contact until the boy’s phone (presumably) went off. He fumbled to locate it on his person and broke eye contact, leaving Kevin to watch him bring the device up to his ear before turning around and walking away.

Kevin let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding, letting his head drop down, his chin touching his chest. That was enough late night encounters for the rest of his life.

Luckily, with Sunwoo, he could feel his presence before he actually appeared; it felt like the residual heat that clung to anything left out in the sun during the day. If he reached out to touch the ground near him, it’d probably be slightly warm. Kevin kept his head down, ignoring Sunwoo as he materialized into existence near him.

“Hyungseo," Sunwoo said. No response.

“Hyungseo-hyung," he repeated, with the honorific attached. Still no response.

He sighed, “ _Kevin._ ”

Kevin lifted his head to look up at Sunwoo, who was leaning back against the building next to where the older was crouched. “Yes?”

“Why can’t you just use your Korean name?" Sunwoo asked, sounding annoyed. (He wasn’t. They’d had this conversation exactly eight times before.)

Kevin resisted the urge to say _because my sole purpose in life is to annoy you_ or _I don’t make the rules, deal with it_ , instead saying, “it’s not my fault I wasn’t born here this time, okay? I am using the original name my parents give me. Also, Kevin is easier to pronounce in Japanese than Hyungseo.” He paused. “Also, this is slightly unrelated, but isn’t ironic that we literally both have _moon_ and _sun_ in our names this time around? I mean. In English. But still, like what are the chances man. It’s sad that didn’t happen to Changmin too, though. I mean, it’d be kind of hard to have _star_ in his name, since he was born here this time. But just imagine if he did have star in his name, we’d be one cool trio, y’know.”

“Sure,” Sunwoo hummed skeptically. “I know you’re just trying to distract me from what I just saw. Don’t think I didn’t see it.”

Kevin feigned innocence. “See what?”

“How could you let a human catch you conversing with your,” Sunwoo waggled his fingers, “ _little minions_."

“They’re not minions! They’re like…little helpers,” Kevin defended, finally standing back up. “You're just jealous because you don’t have an minions. Even Changmin has minions."

Sunwoo raised a single eyebrow. “Didn’t you just say they weren’t minions?”

Kevin waved his hand dismissively, not in the mood to argue. He was about to ask why Sunwoo had actually decided to visit him when the younger suddenly pointed at a moth that was hovering around the lone streetlight. “Don’t you dare say another word.”

Kevin pushed Sunwoo’s hand down. “Leave the moths alone, Sunwoo. What did they ever do to you?”

“Everything,” he huffed. “They antagonize me.”

“More like _you_ antagonize them, Sunwoo,” Changmin said, leaning into Sunwoo’s personal space. The moth had apparently tatted, causing Changmin to appear and complete their little trio. “They tell me everything, you know.”

Sunwoo put a hand over his heart, clutching his chest as he leaned forward to clutch Kevin’s shoulder for support. “Changmin, are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

Changmin just grinned, looking way too innocent for someone who had just scared the living daylights (no pun intended) out of Sunwoo, “maybe.”

“Wow,” Kevin mused, nodding slightly. “Truly a cold blooded killer.”

Sunwoo straightened himself up but still held onto Kevin’s shoulder. “Changmin, while you’re here I have a complaint to file with your little moth minions.”

“Oh?” Changmin said, eyebrows furrowing together. “What is it?”

“Your little two-winged friends have started trailing after me. At all hours of the day. People have started to stare, and I’d rather not attract that kind of attention.”

Changmin’s eyebrows lifted back up, the smile returning to his face. “They can't help it, Sunwoo. You're just so...luminous? Bright? Radiant? They can’t help but follow you.”

Even in the low light, it was obvious that Sunwoo was blushing.

“Okay, enough flirting you two,” Kevin said, throwing his arms over both of their shoulders and starting to steer them away from the side alley. “While we’re all together, we should do something. How does going down to Han River sound?”

“You just want to look at the moon unobstructed, don’t you?” Sunwoo asked flatly.

Unabashed, Kevin admitted, “what can I say, I’m looking particularly beautiful tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if u have any questions please come ask me on my [curiouscat](http://curiouscat.me/peachtones/)! i don't want anyone to be confused lmao


	2. 꼭 기억할게 널 다시 만날 수 있게 널 (i'll remember you, i'll meet you again)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry!! this!! took!! so!! long!! but here we go, chapter two! enjoy kevin being awkward lmao

Kevin rang the doorbell before leaning back, rocking back and forth on his heels, hands shoved deep into his coat pockets, already pink from the cold. Half his face buried in a large scarf and underneath that was a face mask, more to keep his face warm instead of preventing illness (even though he was pretty sure he couldn’t get sick, what with being a god and all) and a beanie was pulled far enough down to cover his eyebrows; only his eyes were visible. Still, he couldn’t help but shiver at the wind that was blowing, which cut easily through the exposed length of fabric of joggers between shin and ankle. Mrs. Bae hadn’t been lying when she said it was starting to get cold out.

He was just about to ring the doorbell again when the door opened, revealing a small, wrinkly and grey-haired woman. She donned a flower-patterned apron, looking like she was either in the middle of cooking or cleaning; from the delicious smell that was wafting from the open door, Kevin guessed she was cooking.

“Oh, Hyungseo!” she exclaimed, a smile lighting up her features. She obviously hadn’t been expecting him to drop by; nonetheless, she opened the door further and grabbed his arm to lead him inside. “Come in, come in! It’s cold out there! I’ll get you something warm to drink.”

He let himself be pulled into her house, unwinding his scarf from around his neck while she closed the door behind him and shuffled past him into the living room, heading straight for the kitchen. He hung his scarf on the rack near the door and pulled off his face mask, shoving it into his coat pocket before he took that off too and hung it on the same hook as his scarf.

“What would you like to drink?” Mrs. Bae called out from the kitchen, the sound of sizzling intensifying.

“Coffee please, if you have any!” he called back as he unlaced and pried his boots off his feet. He opened the shoe cupboard to place his boots inside, only to find that his usual spot was occupied by a pair of sneakers that definitely didn’t belong to Mrs. Bae; they must’ve been her grandson’s. Huh. Either he had accidentally left them there, or he hadn’t left yet. Kevin picked a different spot to put his boots in and closed the cupboard door.

After his shoes were neatly tucked away he lifted his designated pair of house slippers (ones that had bunny ears and tails on them. When he had argued that she didn’t need to buy him his own pair slippers when he could’ve just used her guest ones, she argued that he came over enough to warrant getting him his own pair _and_ that they were just too cute not to buy. He couldn’t argue with that) from the rack and shoved them on. He stepped over the entryway threshold and into the living room before following the smell and sound of food frying into the kitchen.

Mrs. Bae stood in front of the stove, one hand on her hip and the other, the other moving kimchi fried rice around with a wooden spoon in a huge pan. Upon seeing him enter the kitchen, she picked up a mug up from the counter and handed it off to him, which he gratefully accepted with two hands and a duck of his head. But before he could even take a sip of his proffered cup of coffee, a spoon laden with the pan’s contents was pushed in his direction. Kevin took the spoon into his mouth without a second thought, before he was tilting his head back and breathing through a scalding mouthful of kimchi fried rice to try and cool it down.

“How is it?” Mrs. Bae asked, looking at him with an expectant gaze.

With a hand covering his mouth, head still tilted towards the ceiling, he said, “it’s good. Like always.”

She pursed her lips, giving him a wry look before turning back to the stove. “Set the table then, if you would.”

“Yes ma’am,” Kevin mock-saluted, exiting the kitchen to set his mug on the low table in the living room that was more often used to eat instead of the actual dining table that was adjacent to the kitchen. He returned to the kitchen and picked up a trivet from the pile next to the electric kettle, squeezing past Mrs. Bae to get to the silverware drawer to pull out some spoons; they had long surpassed the polite delegation of fried rice into bowls, opting to both just eat straight from the pan. He grabbed her mug of coffee as well, walking back out to the living room and setting about organizing the mugs, spoons, and trivet on the square table.

Mrs. Bae came out from the kitchen shortly after, setting the pan down onto the trivet and sitting down at the spot Kevin had set for her. He picked up his mug, refusing to pick up his spoon, sipping at his coffee as he waited for her to take the first bite. She stared at him, refusing to pick up her spoon too. He thought they had broken this habit, but apparently Mrs. Bae was still holding strongly onto it.

“Eat first,” he insisted, making eye contact with her as he sipped his coffee. “If you want to get technical, I ate first in the kitchen. You can eat.”

She pursed her lips, giving him a slight stink eye before she picked up her spoon and dug in, shoving a sizable spoonful into her mouth. Kevin picked up his own spoon, but blew on it to cool it down a bit before stuffing his own face. Having grown up in Canada and only having moved to South Korea in recent years, he still had not acquired the ability to endure eating screaming hot foods.

They ate in relative peace, the only noises being spoons against cookware, chewing, and sipping of coffee, until Kevin spoke up.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, shifting his position of the floor; Canada had also not prepared him for all the floor sitting or the sore and cramped legs that came with it. “The money you left at the shrine, I bought this beanie and the scarf I had on earlier with it. Just so you know. Also, I had some money left over, but I know you won’t take it back, so I’m not even sure why I just told you..? But anyway. Warm clothes have been purchased, you don’t need to worry about me.”

“Buy some wool socks with the leftover,” Mrs. Bae said, picking up her mug.

“Got it. Wool socks will now be purchased.” He mentally added wool socks to his list, right under _plums for Min_ and _Twice’s latest album for Changmin._

And just like that, the silence returned. Together, they continued to demolish the pan of kimchi fried rice, Kevin getting up once to refill their mugs. That was, until a noise from the upstairs drew his attention _ㅡ_ someone was coming down from the second floor.

A boy as tall as Kevin emerged from the staircase, clearly dressed in pajamas and not fully awake; one of the legs of his sweatpants was pushed almost up to his knee, his had a serious case of bedhead, and he was rubbing his eyes under his glasses. He looked like he was working on autopilot, blindly walking from the hallway to the the kitchen, moving around in the kitchen like he had done it a million times.

He pulled a bowl from the cabinet, placing it on the counter as he turned around and opened another cabinet, producing a box of cereal from it that Kevin hadn’t known was in there. He set that on the counter too, spinning around to open the fridge and take out the milk, which he poured directly into the bowl.

Kevin had to contain his gasp at the sight. Who poured milk in the bowl before the cereal? Heathens?

Unbothered, the boy returned the milk to the fridge and poured cereal into the bowl. Deeming his bowl full enough, he left the box on the counter (presumably to come back for seconds?) and started to make his exit from the kitchen.

“Oh, right,” he mumbled, just one step outside of the kitchen, “spoon.”

He turned around, bowl in one hand as he opened the silverware drawer and pulled out a spoon, before resuming his trek to the living room. He took a seat at the table Kevin and Mrs. Bae were seated at, sitting down directly across from Kevin. Like nothing else mattered, he shoveled a spoonful of cereal into his mouth before he bothered to look up, finally noticing that Kevin was sitting across from him.

“Oh,” he said through a mouthful of what appeared to be Cocoa Puffs, not sounding particularly surprised but very, very sleepy. “It’s you.”

“Me?” Kevin asked.

“Rabbit boy,” he mumbled, shoving another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

It took Kevin a moment to process the words _rabbit boy._ His brain translated the Korean to English and then back to Korean and then back to English before it hit him. It was the boy. The boy, who had seen him talking to the rabbits. Kevin had stop himself from dramatically gasping and throwing his hand over his mouth. What were the chances.

“Oh, you’ve met my grandson?” Mrs. Bae asked, shocking Kevin even more. Like, logically it would make sense that this boy in her house was her grandson. That made sense. But seriously, what were the actual chances of the boy who had seen him talking to his rabbits and the boy sitting right in front of him right now being the same person? It had to be some type of slim ratio. Like, statistically. Out of everyone in this area of Seoul, it just had to be him. Mrs. Bae’s (cute, who said he could be cute?) grandson, who he didn’t even know the name of.

The boy said “ _yes”_ at the same time Kevin said “ _no”._

“I mean, like, not formally,” Kevin quickly amended. “I saw him outside the shrine.”

“He was talking to some rabbits,” the boy added.

Mrs. Bae turned her head to look a Kevin, giving him a knowing look. He didn’t know how much she actually talked about him and his godly status and doings, but it was safe to assume that her grandson had heard about _Hyungseo and his rabbits_ that were the _kami_ of the shrine down the street, especially since the rabbits had located his lost guitar pick. And it wouldn’t necessarily be weird for him to be named Hyungseo, since it was a pretty generic name. Humans can have the same names as gods and deities, but the fact that he, human Kevin and moon god Hyungseo, had the same name? And had been seen talking to rabbits, which was ability moon god Hyungseo had that human Kevin should not? Suspicious.

Kevin minisculely shook his head at her, trying to convey _please don’t expose me to your grandson, I’m definitely just a normal human boy, nope, totally not a moon god or whatever, just a completely human teenager who sometimes talks to rabbits in the street at like a weirdo_ to her. She seemed to catch his drift. Or, well, at least took the action as him not wanting her to introduce him. Or maybe her just not acknowledging his existence to her left. Whatever she had taken his head shake to mean, he was thankful for it.

So instead, she introduced the boy across from him, “this is my grandson, Bae Joonyoung.”

“Jacob,” Joonyoung (well, Jacob) corrected softly.

“Oh!” Kevin’s eyebrows shot up a little in surprise, although the action was hidden by his beanie. He switched from Korean to English and asked, “English?”

Jacob nodded, making an affirmative noise as he continued to eat his cereal, seemingly oblivious to anything else. Either he was really tired, or really loved cereal. Maybe both.

“Cool, cool,” Kevin said, continuing in English. God, he hadn’t used his native tongue in actual conversation in months. Except for like, when he went to eat in Itaewon. But that was not actual conversation, just ordering food and talking about the weather. At this point, he was definitely getting rusty, especially since the only two friends he had just spoke strictly Korean, no English unless it was loan words or random phrases that had become popular within Korea. “I speak English. Too. Like, in addition to Korean. I mean, obviously.”

Heavens, why was this so awkward? _What an absolutely stellar way to introduce yourself to a stranger, Kevin._ Despite himself, he kept going, phrases continuing to come out stilted with weird pauses, “uh, nice to meet you. Your grandmother is great.”

He wiped his suddenly sweaty hands on his pants, looking at Mrs. Bae, who seemed to be enjoying his suffering, a smile on her lips. She mouthed _name?_ at him, making Kevin realize he hadn’t even introduce himself. “Oh, right. My name’s Kevin, by the way. That seems like an important thing to know.”

He watched the corners of Jacob’s mouth tug up into a small smile. “Probably.”

The awkward silence that followed only seemed to further Mrs. Bae’s enjoyment of the situation. It continued for several minutes as Jacob ate his cereal and Mrs. Bae sipped her coffee, leaving Kevin to just sit there in silence, unsure how to ease the tension that had been created. He was just going to endure it until someone else started the conversation back up again (maybe he could say he was from Canada. Canada was a cool place, he could talk about it at length to anyone who would listen. Okay, maybe not such a good idea. Who would want to hear about a bunch of Canada facts? Like the fact that maple syrup trafficking is an actual thing that exists and in November 2016 someone was on trial for $18.7 million worth of stolen maple syrup?), but decided to avoid any more potential humiliation and awkwardness by looking down at his wrist, pretending to look at the time on a watch that didn’t exist, and pushing himself up from the table.

“Well, thank you for the meal Mrs. Bae, but I need to go now,” he said, picking up his empty mug and spoon. “You know, errands to run, socks to buy.”

“Mmhhmm,” Mrs. Bae hummed, seeing right through Kevin’s tissue paper thin excuse. He took his dirty dishes into the kitchen, rinsing them and loading them into the dishwasher.

He awkwardly stepped back into the hallway, inching towards the entryway. The quicker he could make his escape, the better. “Well, uh, I’ll see you around, I guess?”

“It’s likely,” Jacob said, seeming more awake that he had before Kevin had left to go to the kitchen.

“Alright then. Bye.” He directed his attention to Mrs. Bae, “bye, Mrs. Bae. Thank you again for the food.”

“Uh-huh,” she said, conspiratorially. “Stay warm. You better not get a cold!”

“I’ll try not too,” Kevin said, finally able to escape into the entryway, haphazardly wrapping his scarf around himself and pulling his coat on in his haste to flee. “No promises!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes, just in case:  
> \- in korea, you should let the older person eat first (it usually just applies to like, friends, coworkers, and strangers. idk abt family tho), and while mrs. bae might be older, by principle, kevin is older (he's been reincarnated a lot)! also, it would be polite to let kevin eat first, esp since he is a deity, but kevin likes to be Difficult so he makes mrs. bae eat first  
> \- mrs. bae used to be Super Incredibly Formal towards kevin when she found out he was a deity, bowing all the time and using super formal speech and addressing him with _-nim_ before kevin was like "ok im just a teenager we dont need 2 do that" and has been slowly working her out of those habits, but some things she still insists on, like him eating first  
>  \- there is actually a maple syrup trafficking underground in canada, if u didn't know
> 
> also just a reminder that if u have any questions you can ask me on my [curiouscat](http://curiouscat.me/peachtones/)!


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